January 30, 2009

Few features are as revealing as the eyes. Thoughts, emotions, and even deceit can be read through them. Some have gone so far as to say that “Eyes are the windows to the soul.” Whatever else they are, eyes make for fascinating photography.

Scrapbook assignment #2 tasks us with finding a picture in which the eyes are the focus of the image. Unable to narrow my selection to a single picture, I chose three. The first was found online through a google search, the other two are from my own wedding.

Eyes #1 – A boy I’ve never met or heard of, but who has certainly been graced with extraordinary eyes. Aside from their unusual color and slightly large size (for his age) this childs eyes attract the focus of the whole image. He appears inquisitive, and happy – as though he could burst into smile at any moment. Not bad considering the cold temperatures his hood implies!

Eyes # 2 – My newphew Troy, nearly two now, is also blessed with incredible eyes. They perfectly match his happy nature. Since his birth I have seen him cry only a handful of times, while smiles and laughter are nearly guarenteed at the slightest provocation. It is amusing, then, they he was caught here in a deadpan stare lacking emotion of any kind. His eyes pull the viewer in, though. They are slightly lighter than the blue paciphier he has, and are noticebly more stark than any of the other colors in the picture.

Eyes #3 – Without a doubt, the MOST amazing eyes in my family belong to my Grandfather. A retired 2-star general, father of 4 and grandfather of 8, his eyes have always had the unique ability to be either intensly cold or incredibly jovial. I believe this picture from my wedding shows the latter. It reminds me of an even more amazing picture from HIS wedding. Despite being in black and white, my Grandfather’s eyes radiate and stand out, even in that busy photograph they are the first thing you notice. But that I had that picture…

Still, I love this picture. My Grandfather is caught in a look of emotional joy, and seeing this picture always makes me happy.

January 30, 2009

Over the course of this semester, I hope to use this blog for many things! Today I’m using it for Scrapbook entry #1

I’m currently taking a class called Visual Rhetoric. The idea is to study the persuasive effect of an image or group of images. For my own purposes, I hope to learn how to couple images, perhaps in the form of a website, with text to make useful presentations, designs, etc…

Part of our recurring work will be to do these scrapbook assignments, where we pull images of a certain type and analyze them. This is my Scrapbook entry #1 – in which we study the way light plays some significant role in the image. Since I’m not not all that visually creative, I took this to the extreme and most of my pictures involve the use of light in making shadows.

Hidden Nature

I’m amazed at how shadows can not only affect our way of viewing an object, but make that object into something else entirely.This crab claw, at just the right angle to the sun, becomes a swan!

Irony

This picture was taken in the Mount Vernon High School Chorus room. The shadows capture the effect of piano keys on the floor, an amusing irony.

Up and Down or In and Out?

Mostly just because I think it’s cool!

Caught from 20 stories above, I love how the shadows become full sized people (maybe a bit taller than full!) When you focus on it, it’s hard to decide if the ground is a canvas with shadow figures on it, or are these shadows just walking into or out of the ground?